Elizabeth the first, born on September 7, 1533, is the most different and intriguing monarch in the English history (Dunn). Elizabeth is known as the Virgin Queen all of her reign. She used that image to keep out of marriage, prevent war and become one of the most beloved monarchs of the people. This image helped her also fend off Mary Queen of Scots claim to the throne. Between her vivacious and often volatile personality she led her kingdom well up until the day she died on March 24, 1603 (Alchin). The kingdom went into genuine morning for their queen of The People who had made herself loved by all of her subjects.
Elizabeth is the daughter of Anne Boleyn and King Henry the 8th. She was declared a bastard in 1537 when her father finally had a male child. After this no one believed that she would ever inherit the throne of England. Elizabeth was very damaged by the fact that her father kept beheading his wives. One of her step-mothers Catherine Howard, who was her mother’s cousin, was kind to her and it deeply affected her that another person she loved was beheaded (Weir Pg. 13). Many people believe that this is one of the main reasons that Elizabeth never wanted to marry. The institution itself was deeply flawed to her reasoning. I would be the same way if every time my father married he got to chop the woman’s head off because he was bored with her.
Elizabeth lived most of her life, till she reached the age of twenty-five, in exile and one of the places she lived was Hatfield. It was in this places that Elizabeth waited for Queen Mary to kick the bucket and give the throne over to her. Even then Elizabeth still didn’t think she would ever inherit up to this point. A few years ago she had been thrown in the Tower of Lo...
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... talk them out of trying to marry her off. Parliament in fact started every session out with a plea for her to marry and have little prince and princess’s. Queen Elizabeth used her feminine wiles to distance herself from the idea of marriage. She would sometimes seem to go along with marriage proposals for a while. Then she would cancel negations for a while. Elizabeth did this for many years. She seemed to know intuitively how much eagerness to show and when to be coolly indifferent.
Works Cited
Alchin, L.K. "Elizabethean Era." 20 March 2008. www.elizabethan-era.org.uk. 17 April 2010 .
Dunn, Jane. Elizabeth & Mary. New York: Random House Inc., 2003.
Richards, Judith. "The Two Tudors Queens Regent." History Review (2005): 1-42.
Weir, Alison. The Life of Elizabeth I. New York: Random House Inc., 2008.
Elizabeth I had total control of politics in England. She showed this best by refusing to marry. This allowed her to “further her general policy of balancing the continental powers,” (Gale Biography Context). Because Elizabeth decided not to marry, she was able to have complete political power over England. Political power
During Elizabeth’s reign, she never married. People started calling her “The Virgin Queen,” since she never married. Elizabeth had many affairs and she kept romantic friendships throughout her life, but never married. Elizabeth had many reasons why she didn’t marry. If Elizabeth had married her balance of power would’ve shifted. Elizabeth saw when Mary I died that her husband, the king, was more appreciated then the queen. Elizabeth didn’t want that to happen so she stayed single. Also seeing her father kill so many wives and
Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich Palace on September 7, 1533 to Henry VII and Anne Boleyn, the king’s second wife. Elizabeth inherited the throne from her half-sister, Mary Tudor, after her death in 1588, and she was coronated on January 15, 1559 (Rowse). Elizabeth set out to make changes and compromises to the contrasting choices of rule of her two predecessors and half-siblings, Edward VI and Mary Tudor. During her reign from 1588-1603, Queen Elizabeth I greatly impacted the arts, religion, and government of England.
During her time as queen, Elizabeth addressed parliament both on the subjects of marriage and on her loyalty to her country. Perhaps she did this because she was questioned about leaving an heir to the throne. To answer this Elizabeth wrote,
[Queen Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603 at the Richmond palace in Surrey] (History.com). [She was remembered as the queen who supported her people. Her long time on the throne provided her people with stability and consistency].
Elizabeth’s relationship with her elder male cousin, the Duke of Norfolk, was not good at all. The Duke of Norfolk wanted to kill Elizabeth because he wanted to become the king of England. Becoming the king of England was impossible while Elizabeth was still the queen. When Mary was on her deathbed with cancer the Duke of Norfolk tried to get Mary to sign a paper that would allow him to kill Elizabeth and become King of England. The Duke of Norfolk would speak against Queen Elizabeth and try to turn England against her. At one meeting she had to lock him and his men up so he wouldn’t cause a disturbance. They both had their differences.
However, he was perfectly aware of the people who did not want her to be the Queen. Despite this, she seemed to focus more on the loyalty of her subjects than her opponents in her speeches. For example, in Document 11 (an address to Parliament), she, unfazed by the skeptics who view her as weak and unable to rule, asserts her right to the throne, and that her only husband is the Kingdom of England. In Document 12, she is defiant in her stance towards Spain and Parma, even as their fleets approach the English coasts. She does acknowledge that she may be physically weak because of her womanhood, but asserts her determination to rule is that of a man. This clearly exemplifies her ability to ignore her detractors and rule
In 1553, Elizabeth’s half brother, Edward, died at the age of nine. Shortly after, Elizabeth’s half sister took the throne. Her name was Mary. Mary caused many problems for England. Mary believed that England should follow one religion and anyone who did not follow this religion would be executed. Mary was Catholic. She later got the nickname “bloody Mary” because she killed so many Protestants. This caused a problem for Elizabeth because she was Protestant. Many people who did not believe the Catholic faith thought that Elizabeth was the rightful ruler and plotted against Mary. The leader of this plot was named Thomas Wyatt. He was organizing a rebellion and soon Mary found out of this plan. She then had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London. Elizabeth told her sister she had no idea of the plot but her sister would not believe her. When soldiers came to get Elizabeth and take her to the Tower, she was so scared Elizabeth literally would not move.
Elizabeth was often referred to as “The Virgin Queen.” The reason for this nickname was due to her choice to remain unmarried. Her reasoning for this was complex. It seemed that she did not marry for political purposes. Queen Elizabeth declared herself “married to England.” When she became The Virgin Queen, she set herself aside from other women, which is probably why she commanded so much respect. If she had married, she would have essentially lost all power. She couldn’t marry an Englishman because it could create factional infighting, but if she were to marry at foreign man, she would be believed to be invo...
“When I received this [Coronation] ring I solemnly bound myself in marriage to the realm, and it will be quite sufficient for the memorial of my name and for my glory, if, when I die, an inscription be engraved on a marble tomb, saying, “Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin, and died a virgin.”” Unfortunately these words had become spasmodically through her reign as Queen. Queen Elizabeth was in a constant battle with Parliament for her to marry and leave an heir to the throne. She never married and did indeed die a virgin. Queen Elizabeth was often depicted in many paintings as a virgin and being of purity, of being of royalty, of strong political mind and striving for peace amongst her kingdom. The depiction of the Queen’s purity and her strive for peace amongst her kingdom, while battling the parliament on not having an heir to the throne and other political obstacles that she was faced with can be symbolized in the painting the “Ermine Portrait”.
The memoir of Old Elizabeth presents a rare and important slave narrative in which the stories of African American women intersect with the experiences of African American people in roles of religious leadership. Elizabeth broke many of societies conventions at the time by preaching and holding religious meeting despite being woman. Her religious work was met with backlash from the church and from many other people who did not accept the idea of a woman leading religious services, yet she continued to practice until her health would no longer allow for it. This is unusual as it spends most of the narrative on the time after she was free rather than focusing on the time that she was enslaved the way that many slave narratives do.
On top of the near-constant war against Spain in the latter part of Elizabeth’s reign, the nation also had to deal with inflation, rising expenses, and “tax evasion, which became endemic.” (Morgan). On this last issue, Elizabeth’s government wasn’t really a role model; her Lord Treasurer himself dodged taxes. While Elizabeth herself did not suffer the full extent of these problems, her successors James I and Charles I were left without sufficient funds, leading to all-out war with Parliament. In order to keep the government somewhat functional, Elizabeth turned to corruption, selling land, government offices, and monopolies to the highest bidder.
In the film, Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth’s early reign is followed as the young ruler transforms from a self-conscious, young girl to a strong, ruthless queen. After the death of Mary I of England, the young Elizabeth Tudor is thrusted to the throne of England. While dealing with England’s considerable debt and instability, Elizabeth soon learns that she has inherited many enemies among the English court. Distracted by a young passionate lover, an army of available suitors, and the pressure to marry and produce a heir, Elizabeth suffered many defeats by the Catholic Church and her enemy, Mary of Guise. To the dismay of the Catholic Church, Mary manages to pass the Act of Uniformity to reunite England under one central religion.
Last but not least, she could have been afraid of marriage because she grew up surrounded by failing marriages. Her father for example, executed her mom and stepmother because of adultery when Elizabeth really young. Another example could have been her sister Mary and her failed marriage to Philip of Spain. I like this theory the most because I think it represents a human being, not some selfish Queen that didn’t married because she wanted all the power for herself. She was a normal women who was afraid of getting hurt in a marriage due to what she grew up to believe.
At the time of her birth, no one ever thought that Elizabeth would become queen of Great Britain. Elizabeth only got to enjoy the first ten years of her life with all the freedoms of being a royal without the pressures of being the heir apparent. She often took dancing and singing lessons. Her life took a major spin with the death of her grandfather, King George V. Her uncle became King Edward VIII, but he only ruled for about six months because he chose love over power. Edward appointed Elizabeth's father, Prince Albert, to become King. Soon the outbr...